IT’S not everyday that we have a strong faith and prayer life. It’s not all the time that we’re passionate about living or we’re happy with our selves. There are times when we’re not filled with zest or motivation to continue the path that we’ve chosen. When these feelings come, we must never get discouraged. Rather, we must patiently endure these feelings and believe that they are just fleeting moments of blasé. Another time will come when we become rejuvenated again and when we feel like we are on the top of the world.
Spiritual directors call this dynamic an experience of desolation and consolation. When we experience desolation, they advise us to stay and to persevere in this unpleasant feeling, and believe that they are temporary. If we keep being faithful to our prayer life and our vocation, the Holy Spirit guarantees us to come to a period of consolation.
And so, we should never live in despair, thinking that we’ll forever be trapped in a state of sadness and meaninglessness. We should keep a hopeful attitude, knowing that any suffering, discontentment, or anxiety will pass.
The Gospel on the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus presents us with two people who never remained in a period of despair. Simeon remained strong in faith, believing in the Lord who had promised him that “he will never see death before he had seen Christ the Lord.” The prophecy came through when Mary and Joseph presented Jesus at the temple. Taking Jesus in his arms he said, “Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the peoples: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people of Israel.”
A prophetess named Anna who “was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four” showed similar patience and perseverance. Despite losing her husband in their early years of marriage, she “never left the temple, but worshipped night and day with fasting and prayer.” She too encountered the child Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah.
The best way for us to remain strong in faith and hopeful is to reflect on the many years in the past that God has guided and protected us, and provided us with our needs. When we do this exercise, we would be amazed on how we’ve overcome hardships through the love and mercy of God.
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to reunite with my classmates in elementary school after more than forty years. Of course, some classmates have become successful and have lived comfortably while others have led difficult lives. But one thing is common in all of us in the class: we’ve all survived our personal battles.
And so, let us remain faithful in our duties to God, to our families, and to our fellow men and women. Let us believe that we’ll endure all things by the grace of God!
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Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas attended St. John Seminary in Camarillo, California and earned his Doctor of Ministry in Preaching from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri. For twenty years, he has been in the parish ministry of large multi-cultural communities. Since 2002, he has been the pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Los Angeles. Please email Fr. Rodel at [email protected].
